Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: S1

PATIENTS CHALLENGE MEDICAL POT LAWS

Plaintiffs Say Their Charter Rights Were Violated When the Government 
Enacted Regulations That Made Personal Growing Illegal

One of the four people asking the Federal Court to overturn Canada's 
new medical marijuana laws says he grows his own to help him cope 
cheaply with serious and chronic pain and that being deprived of it 
will unconstitutionally force him to choose between his medicine and jail.

But government lawyers contend allowing individuals to grow is a 
security, fire and health risk for patients, their neighbours and 
children who may be exposed to the drug. As well, the government 
contends, it is too difficult to ensure the marijuana being grown is 
medically effective.

Shawn Davey, a 38-year-old Mission, B.C., man on disability who 
smokes and eats up to 25 grams of cannabis products a day, explained 
to a government lawyer in Federal Court on Monday that since becoming 
licensed in September, 2013, he has been able to properly treat 
chronic pain from a serious motorcycle accident 15 years ago.

Mr. Davey is one of four plaintiffs alleging that their Section 7 
Charter rights were violated when the federal government enacted its 
new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) last year that 
made their personal grow operations illegal. Their lawyer, John 
Conroy, says they can't afford marijuana under the new system, which 
also doesn't give them control over the specific strains they use.

Mr. Conroy is asking the court to force the government to allow 
patients to grow their own marijuana and possess not only dried buds, 
but also tinctures, sprays and "edibles" such as baked goods and 
butters. Many Canadians licensed to produce their own medicinal 
marijuana under the old system kept growing after the Federal Court 
judge granted an injunction to the four plaintiffs in March of last 
year pending the outcome of this legal challenge.

"This is not about people producing to sell to the public; obviously 
that requires rules and regulations - especially if you hold it out 
to be medicine," Mr. Conroy told reporters during the trial's lunch 
break. "This is like, we say, growing your own food, growing your own 
health-care products."

Mr. Davey said he began using marijuana in 2002 to cope with his 
symptoms, which include memory loss, poor balance, a numb left side 
and severe pain.

Since then he has bought off the black market while failing to grow 
his own licensed crop once and being disappointed twice by the 
product he legally bought from two licensed producers. In September, 
2013, he again secured a licence under the old system to grow 122 
plants, most of which he says he harvests and renders into butter to 
bake into super-potent cookies that help him sleep each night.

The government lawyer cross examined Mr. Davey on the $27,000 he and 
his friend - who was also licensed under the old production system - 
spent on renovating a barn on a rural property in Mission and 
planting marijuana in September, 2013. The pair spent about $3,000 on 
a security system that, if tripped, calls both Mr. Davey and his 
friend's cellphone, Mr. Davey said.

Mr. Davey told the lawyer the pair had no insurance, counted each 
crop by hand, encountered no problems with mould, did not weigh any 
of the harvests and kept no written records.

He estimates it costs about $330 a month to grow his marijuana, plus 
about $500 for electricity, which is still cheaper than buying 
marijuana from a licensed producer. While those prices range from 
less than $5 a gram to $15, Mr. Davey suggested he would probably end 
up paying about $8 to $10 a gram for about 750 grams each month.

"I can't do it, bro, there's no way," he said, referring to the cost. 
"And I trust what I grow. ... This is my body and I don't want anyone 
else dealing with it."

Mr. Conroy says the federal government is confusing the risks of 
medical marijuana operations with the security problems faced by 
black-market grow-ops in the era before legalization hit western 
American states.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom